LIVE BLOG: New action to stop Russian oil giant Gazprom's oil platform in the Arctic

Final Update - 5 am CET: Their final moment was a picture of determination and they're down - but not out. For five days and nights the crew of the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise confronted the Russian oil giant Gazprom in a bid to prevent its reckless plunder of Arctic oil. During their peaceful protest they withstood blasts of freezing water from high powered water cannons, spent whole nights in the open and were were dumped bodily into the icy seas. Finally however, despite their determination, they were forced to retreat when their last boat was pulled vertically out of the water spilling the crew into the frigid waters below.Everyone is now safely back aboard the Greenpeace ship. Everyone has limits and these people have now reached theirs.

However, this is not the end, it cannot be the end. The struggle for the Arctic must, and will, continue. We saw today that the Arctic sea ice retreated further than ever before recorded - evidence that our planet is warming up at a rate that puts billions of people’s future in jeopardy. If we're going to stop the oil companies that see this retreat as a business opportunity rather than the dire warning that it is, it's going to take more than a few brave souls in inflatable boats - it's gong to take a movement. It's gong to take you.

Sign on now to save the Arctic www.savethearctic.org. If you've signed on, share it and if you've shared it, share it again.

One of our RIB inflatable boats attached to the anchor has been flipped by hoses... Activists were in the water. They are now safe, and well, in another boat. Action is going on as another team is moving into position ... stay tuned !

Kumi's boat is now attached to anchor chain of this vessel - it's not moving anywhere and so the platform workers can’t get on-board, effectively stopping its preparations to drill for oil in the Arctic.

A Russian Coast Guard vessel is nearby, and presumably assessing the situation.

A second load of activists have been brought to the scene - now 14 in total.

Why we are doing this

Prirazlomnaya. It’s certainly a mouthful, but it’s also the new name – and face – of Arctic destruction today. It's a giant Russian platform, set to be the first to try and commercially produce offshore Arctic oil anywhere on the planet.

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(Unregistered) Lovethesource
says:

"Although we are all the same in not wanting problems and wanting a peaceful life, we tend to create a lot of problems for ourselves. Encounterin...

"Although we are all the same in not wanting problems and wanting a peaceful life, we tend to create a lot of problems for ourselves. Encountering those problems, anger develops and overwhelms our mind, which leads to violence. A good way to counter this and to work for a more peaceful world is to develop concern for others. Then our anger, jealousy and other destructive emotions will naturally weaken and diminish" Dalai Lama
Greenpeace respects that which is most precious of all, our Earth and all life.
I support Greenpeace financially, spiritually,and with right action.

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(Unregistered) just Heywood
says:

I saw an earlier caption that said something like, "chaining himself to the anchor chain, now that takes guts". All I could think of was no...

I saw an earlier caption that said something like, "chaining himself to the anchor chain, now that takes guts". All I could think of was now if the russian ship cuts its anchor chain would it be enough to drag them to the bottom? Like the morons who were hanging off the side of the drilling platform. I was thinking that the water they were spraying on them would have been more effective if it was the solid variety.